Isabella Cruz, Zoe Maher and Martin Depner, all eighth-graders at Horizon Middle School, have made the list of Renaissance Program students every quarter so far during their middle school academic career. With one more year at HMS, they want to finish as strongly as they started.

The Renaissance Program is a national program that encourages attendance, enhances school pride and promotes academics. Students can qualify for three different levels – gold, black and red – based on each quarter’s grade point average and not having any behavioral referrals. A GPA of a perfect 4.0 is required for gold recognition, along with no disciplinary referrals. Martin has achieved gold level status every quarter.

Right now, HMS has over 400 students who are a part of Renaissance, 54 who have a perfect 4.0. HMS Teachers will host a Renaissance Assembly Friday, August 23rd to celebrate student success in academics. Check out the full article.

The WEB Leaders of HMS did a variety of activities with 6th graders on the first transition day including tours of the school, getting to know you activities and giving them strategies to help them to get through middle school.

WEB, Where Everybody Belongs, has events all year long, not just the first day of school for 6th graders. The WEB Leaders will visit the classrooms of 6th graders throughout the year to do some classroom guidance lessons as well as putting on holiday activities.

"We are lucky to keep this program going all year long, and this is due the amazing support of our teachers and staff." - Leslie Garza, 6th Grade Counselor

Jim Kyner, Principal at SRES, visited almost 40 homes of up and coming Kindergarteners this past summer. During their Kindergarten Kickoff in May, families can sign up for a home visit. The kickoff is an opportunity for new families and their students to come in and see the school and kindergarten classrooms. SRES gives families registration information if needed and they are then able to learn about their new crop of students.

At his home visits, Mr. Kyner has a welcome package for the students, a book, letter chart, number chart, and sometimes other school supplies, (pencil, eraser, etc...). He also gives a reminder of important school dates and just talks with families about any questions they may have. The visits take 15 or 20 minutes.

Jim has done home visits his whole career. "I find that they help build a positive relationship with the families and students. They ease the anxiety of new students as they transition to Kindergarten and see a familiar face. It allows me to make a real connection with families and demonstrates commitment." - Jim Kyner

Freshmen at Sand Creek were welcomed by the LINK Crew on 7/31. Link Crew is a high school transition program that welcomes freshmen and makes them feel comfortable throughout the first year of their high school experience. New students were given a tour of the building, learned about the school, practiced class chants and received a free "We Stay Committed" t-shirt, reinforcing the new culture of setting your post secondary goal and staying committed towards it. Teachers made a tunnel as the freshmen were let in that morning, giving out high fives and clapping them in.

Carolyn Merritt, Math Instructional Coach for the Sand Creek Zone, located quick tip sheets for parents to access for each module for each grade. Access these on your schools' website by going to Class & Activities: Classrooms: and then selecting your child's grade. A list of resources will be on the right hand side of the page. We hope these help you as you help your child along the way with Common Core math and a new way of experiencing math skills.

8/27: DAAC Meeting at CO @6pm

RES Chipotle Night

8/29: SRES Walk A Thon

8/30: PD Day (No Students)

9/2: Labor Day (No Students)

9/4: Junior/Senior Night at SCHS @6pm

9/13: SCHS Homecoming Football Game @7pm

SRES Super Day of Science

9/14: D4.9K Walk/Run

9/17: Sand Creek Zone Partners SAC Meeting at SCHS @5:30pm